


Splash

by lod



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Diving, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 08:58:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16133969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lod/pseuds/lod
Summary: "Go on, I dare you" + pegoryuReal short one!





	Splash

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EndovaElixabete](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndovaElixabete/gifts).



Ryuji’s been waiting at the bottom of the ladder for at least 5 minutes; there were a few kids splashing around earlier but now the diving area’s cleared and there’s really no reason Akira still hasn’t jumped. He’s about to ask what the hold up is when he makes eye contact with him, and realises the boy looks absolutely  _ terrified _ . It’s a really strange expression on that usually smug and cocky face, one he hasn’t seen since last fall’s risky plans; one he definitely wasn’t expecting to see on a casual summer outing to the pool.

Akira’s gripping the diving board’s railings for dear life. Ryuji decides to go up and see what’s going on; they’re supposed to go one at a time, but he doubts anyone will come yell at him. When he gets there, he realises Akira is trembling like a leaf. He wraps an arm around him, pulling him close while his other hand goes to rub his back soothingly.

“What’s up with you? I thought you wanted to do this.”

“I did, but it’s… so high….” The voice speaking into his neck is still a bit shaky, but at least his breathing seems to have evened out.

“It’s not that high, only what, 7 meters?” Ryuji pulls back just enough to look at Akira, surprised. “I didn’t think you were afraid of heights. I mean, I’ve seen you do flips to get onto ledges with at least five times this much space beneath you in the Metaverse.”

“It wasn’t the same in the Metaverse. Joker had a certain disregard for self-preservation.  _ I don’t _ .”

Ryuji’s about to argue against the idea that they were any different in the Metaverse, but thinking about it, he realises he took a handful of risks he never would have taken outside of it. Maybe it was the healing and revival items lining their pockets reminding them that pain was only temporary, maybe it was that they weren’t quite themselves — it was  _ something _ , anyway. Ryuji’s never been too interested in overthinking that sort of thing, though.

“You can always go back down the ladder,” he suggests, but a grumpy expression settles on Akira’s face when he does. He doesn’t bother to insist; he knows better than to try to change Akira’s mind when he’s being stubborn. All the arguments he could come up with about how this doesn’t matter, and how there’s no shame in being afraid of something for once, would fall on deaf ears. So he goes for the opposite strategy. He drops one arm as he turns towards the water, leaving the other loosely draped around Akira’s shoulders, and leans in close to whisper in his ear.

“Do a flip. Go on, I dare you. Or are you too chicken? Don’t worry, I’ll show you how it’s done,” he says, the challenge audible in his tone.

When he pulls away there’s a flash of red in Akira’s eyes, of fire and brimstone and  _ danger _ , but it’s gone in an instant, replaced by a wide grin. Akira shakes his arm off his shoulders, grabs his chin and tugs him into a rough kiss that tastes like chlorine and false bravado. Then he turns around, rolls his shoulders, and does a perfect run and jump off the board, turning a double front flip before cutting into the water smoothly. When he comes back up, he shakes the water out of his eyes and throws a provocative wink in Ryuji’s direction before he swims away from the landing area.

Ryuji can feel his cheeks warming up despite himself. Yeah, Akira’s definitely still got it. He shrugs the thought off; it’s his turn now, and for once he’s not planning to let Akira hog all the attention.

He’s been swimming regularly over the past few months. It’s a good workout that doesn’t strain his leg the way most sports do. The pool he goes to has a diving board, and though it’s not as high as this one it’s enough that he’s been able to practice some flips of his own. The first time, he only tried it out because he’d never jumped off one before. He surprised himself with how much he enjoyed it, and before long he was getting pointers from other pool goers, working his way up from awkward straight jumps to his first bellyflop-free flip within a month.

He walks down the length of the board calmly. In the distance, he can hear Akira’s jeers about his lack of a running start, but he knows what he’s doing. He reaches the edge, then turns around and lets his heels hang off the edge of the board before raising his arms overhead, bouncing once and throwing himself into a backflip with a full twist. The figure unrolls smoothly, although the extra half second it takes to hit the water is just enough to make his stomach drop. Then he’s pulling himself back out and grinning at Akira’s shocked expression. From behind him, he can hear Ann and Haru cheering.

He can’t help but feel a little proud of himself. No one on the team’s ever doubted his sheer power, and a certain number of Shadows have experienced it firsthand, but back when they’d been running around Palaces dexterity had never been his strength. He’s pretty sure no one, least of all himself, expected him to get any better at anything approaching acrobatics, but since he started diving he feels like he’s discovered something made just for him. He’s also been thinking about his failed track career less and less, and it doesn’t hurt quite so much when he does.

His thoughts are interrupted when he reaches the edge of the pool and finds Akira’s hand waiting to pull him up. He takes it and Akira tugs him excitedly back towards the diving boards.

“Can you show me how to do that one?!”

Ryuji follows with a grin. Being able to flaunt his skills in front of Akira (and the girls —  he’s an equal opportunity show-off) definitely doesn’t hurt, either.


End file.
